Toy



Feb. 16, 1932. L. MA X 1,845,613

1 ,TOY

Filed March 15. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR LOUIS Marx BY 2; A ORNEYS L.-MARX Feb. 16, 1932.

TOY

Filed March is. 2 Sheis-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Lou's Marx Patented Feb. 16, 1932 .m-w: LOUIS MARX, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

TOY

Application filed March 15, 1929. Serial No. 347,384.

This invention relates to toys and more particularly to toy airplanes and toy parachutes.

One primary object of my invention is to provide a toy airp ane arranged to carry an auxiliary toy and to release or eject the auxiliary toy from the airplane under-predetermined conditions. Most appropriately the auxiliary toy may take the form of a toy parachute, and still better, one having attached thereto ant arranged to support a toy aviator.

Many toy airplanes, including the preferred embodiments of the present invention described in detail in this specification, are not capable of flight but merely move along a supporting'surface such as the floor. While in its broader aspects I do not wish the next mentioned feature of my invention to be limited to such toy airplanes, for it also is applicable to any toy fixed to the floor, as well as to toy airplanes which are movably or fixedly suspendedabove the floor level, or even are capable of self-sustained flight, another of the primary objects of the invention is to arrange a toy parachute for realistic descent even though the source from which it has been ejected is. at floor level, and to this end one feature of my invention is a method of launching a toy parachute which includes projecting the parachute upwardly to an altitude sutficient to insure opening of the parachute during its descent, even though the source remains at floor level during the entire episode.

To improve the amusement possibilities and the realism of performance of the toy it is desirable that it take the form of an airplane, and that it-be movable, and further, that the toy parachute or other auxiliary toy be launched therefrom under predetermined conditions during its motion or simulated flight. Also, since a parachute drop is an emergency measure ordinarily resorted to only in the event of some accident to the airplane, such as a collision I choose collision to be the specific predetermined condition which causes the ejection of the parachute. Another object therefore, of the present invention, resides in the fulfillment of the va-' rious foregoing conditions, and more specifically, in the pIOVlSlOIl of a toy airplane-carrying means equipped with trigger means so positioned and arranged that collision of the airplane with an obstacle actuates the trigger means and thus causes the ejector means to launch a toy aviator and parachute.

In the specific form of the invention herein disclosed the toy is propelled by a motor, exemplified by a spring motor, and even if the propulsion is obtained through the landing wheels of the airplane it is nevertheless important to provide a propeller driven by the motor in order that the toy maymore closely resemble a real airplane. To protect the toy from harm, and the furniture and Walls of the room from being scratched, and marred by the toy, it is desirable that the propeller be so coupled to the motor that it may stop rotating upon striking an object, and to so do is still another object of the present invention.

The trigger actuating means consists, in simplified form, of a reciproca-ble plunger extending from the forward end of the. airplane. It should not, however, interfere with the rotationof the propeller, and to reconcile these conflicting requirements is a still further object of my invention.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as wililjhereinafter appear, my invention consists in the toy aviator and parachute, the ejector mechanism therefor, the toy airplane, and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are more particularly described and sought to be defined in the claims; reference being bad to the accompanying drawings which show the preferred embodiments of my invention, and in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the toy in operation;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal elevational section through one form of the toy;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3- 3 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a modification in which the aviator and parachute are concealed within the fuselage of the airplane; and 1 Fig. 5 shows the toy aviator during his descent.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that there is a toy airplane A which carries an auxiliary toy, here exemplified by a toy aviator and parachute B. Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings, it will be seen that the airplane A, durin its movement, upon encountering some 0 stacle, as the wall of a room, projects the aviator and parachute B upwardly to an altitude sulficient toinsure opening of the parachute during the subsequent descent of the aviator, as is indicated at B. It will, of course, be appreciated that the airplane may be suspended on a wire or be capable of self-sustained flight, in either of which cases the parachute ma simply be released from the airplane wit mat a preliminary upward projection but the form of the invention here disclosed permits of a realistic and gradual descent of the aviator, even though the toy is an airplane of the simple and rugged type designed merely to travel along a floor, and, in fact, the ejector source may be a simple fixed toy not purporting to represent an airplane. The preliminary upward projection may be considered to be the result of an explosion following the collision, and adds very greatly to the amusement caused by the performance of the toy.

Attention is now directed to the species of the invention shown in Figs. 2 and 3, wherein it will be seen that the airplane A is provided with a fuselage 2 and wings 4, while the fuselage is supported by main landing wheels 6 and a tail landing wheel 8. At the forward end of the fuselage the airplane is equipped with a propeller 12 which, for reasons presently to be described, is preferably mounted on a hollow propeller shaft 14. Within the fuselage 2 there is mounted a driving motor 10 which, in this case, is a spring driven motor of any suitable conventional form. This motor may be geared to the landing wheels 6 alone in order to propel the toy along its supporting surface, or it ma be geared to the propeller 12 alone in or er to move the toy either along a supporting surface while resting on its landing Wheels or while it is supported in the air by an overhead wire, or it ma be geared to both the landing wheels 6 and the propeller 12. The particular form of the toy here described is of the latter type, but the motive power is applied to the landing wheels 6, while the propeller 12 is rotated merely to enhance the similarity between the toy and a real airplans.

It has already been stated that one object of this invention is to so gear the propeller to the driving motor that the propeller may stop rotating on striking an object, and to this end the collar 16 on the propeller shaft 14 is so located that a slight axial movement of the shaft 14 is permitted, this movement being sufficient to permit the gear 18 and the gear 20 to disengage. The teeth of the gear 20 are merely rounded radial projections on the face of a disk, and this form of tooth facilitates the disengagement of the gears and so permits the rotation of the propeller 12 to be quite readily stopped.

In one aspect my invention comprises any source or base, A, provided with ejector mechanism for projecting a toy aviator and parachute B upwardly into the air to a considerable attitude. In another aspect the invention comprises a toy airplane A provided with mechanism for ejecting any auxiliary toy, and more particularly, for launching a toy aviator and parachute B. I

The release or ejector mechanism carried in the fuselage of the airplane for the ejection of the auxiliary toy may take form in an upright cylinder 22, the top end of which is open and the bottom end of which supports a compression spring 24 and a piston 26, the piston being reciprocable within the cylinder The piston may be depressed against the pressure of the spring 24 and locked in position by a trigger 28 ivoted in a yoke 30 affixed to the forwar outer wall of the cylinder. The upper end of the trigger is provided with a catch beneath which the piston 26 is locked, while the lower end'of the trigger is connected to a plunger or trigger actuating rod 32 which extends upwardly from the trigger and, most conveniently, in order not to interfere with the rotation of the propeller 12, passes within and through the hollow propeller shaft 14 and terminates in a feeler or antenna 34.

The piston 26 bears a pair of horizontal projections 36 which reciprocate in slots 38 in the side walls of the cylinder 22. The function of the projections 36 and the slots 38 is to prevent the piston and spring from being thrown out of the cylinder when they are re eased durin' the operation of the toy.

The particular auxiliar toy here employed is most clearly shown in F ig. 2, and comprises a toy aviator 40, from the head of which there rises a light rod 42. To the top of the rod there is aflixed the cloth of the parachute 44, while the outer edges of the parachute are attached by cords 46 to a ring 48, which slides freely on the rod 42 up to a distance which corresponds to full opening of the parachute 44.

The operation of the toy is practically obvious, the spring motor being wound up and the to then permitted to run alon the floor until it strikes an obstacle, at which time the plunger 34 actuates the trigger 28 and so releases the piston 26 and thus ejects the toy aviator and parachute with considerable force to an altitude about equal to the height of a normal room, after which the aviator descends, his downward fall being so impeded by the opening of the parachute that he is gently wafted to safety on the floor. After this escape he may again be placed in the airplane for another ride, and the performance repeated.

' the airplane. The toy may be propelled by a spring motor, as in the case of the modification shown in Figs. 2 and 3, or by a friction.

momentum motor, or even without a motor by'merely beingl pushed along the floor. As before, when t e projecting end 34 of the plunger 32 strikes an obstacle the trigger 28 releases the spring actuated piston 26 and so ejects the toy aviator and parachute.

,It will be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in the preferred forms, many changes and modifications may be made in the structures disclosed without de arting from the spirit of the invention, de ned in the following claims.

What I claim is: u 1 1. A toy airplane comprising. a fuselage and Wings, landing wheels therefor, a cylinder carried by said fuselage, a reciprocable piston therein, compressible means beneath the piston, a trigger for locking the piston in depressed position, a to parachute supported in the cylinder above the piston, and a reciprocable plunger projecting from the forward end of the airplane for actuating the trigger and releasing the iston in order to eject the parachute when t e airplane encounters an object.

2. A toy air lane comprising a fuselage and wings, lan ing wheels therefor, a driving motor for rotating the landing Wheels in order to propel the airplane along a sufporting surface, a cylinder carried by sai fuselage, a reciprocable member therein, a com pressiblc spring beneath the member, a trigger for 10: 'ing the member in depressed position, a toy parachute supported in the c inder above the member, and a reciproca 1e plunger projecting from the forward end of the airplane for actuating the trigger and releasing the member in order to eject the parachute when the airplane encounters an object. 3. A toy airplane comprising a fuselage and wings, a propeller, a driving motor therefor, a cylinder carried by said fuselage, a reciprocable member therein, a compressible spring beneath the member, a trigger for locking the member in depressed position, a

toy parachute supported in the cylinder above the member, and a reciprocable plunger projecting from the forward end of the airplane for actuating the trigger and releasing the member in order to eject the parachute when the airplane encounters an object.

4. A toy airplane comprising a fuselage and wings, a driving motor, a propeller at the forward end of the airplane, a hollow drive shaft for coupling the propeller to the motor, a cylinder carried by said fusela e, a reciprocable piston therein, a com ressildle spring beneath the iston, a trigger or locking the piston in epressed position, a toy parachute supported in the cylinder above the piston, and a reciprocable plunger projecting from the forward end of and supported concentrically within the propeller drive shaft for actuating the trigger and releasing the piston in order to eject the parachute when the airplane encounters an ob'ect.

5. A toy airplane comprising a fuselage and wings, landing wheels'therefor, a propeller therefor, a driving motor geared to the landing wheels and-to the propeller, a cylinder carried by said fuselage, a reciprocable piston therein, a compressible spring beneath the piston, a trigger for locking the piston in depressed position, a toy parachute su ported in the cylinder above the piston, and a re ciprocable plunger projecting from the for- Ward end of the airplane for actuating the carried by said fuselage, a reciprocable piston therein, a compressible spring beneath the piston, a trigger for locking the piston in depressed position, a toy aviator and parachute fitting within the cylinder above the piston, and a rcciprocable plunger projecting from the forward end of the airplane and support ed concentrically within the propeller shaft for actuating the trigger and releasing the piston in order to eject the aviator and para.- chute when the plunger encounters an obstacle.

'7. A toy airplane comprising a fuselage and wings, a propeller and hollow propeller shaft mounted on the forward end of the fuselage, means on the airplane for carrying and ejecting an auxiliary toy, and a reciprocable plunger projecting from the forward end of the airplane and supported concentrically within the propeller shaft arranged upon a reciprocation to initiate ejection of the auxiliary toy from the airplane.

Signed at New York, in the county of Ne York and State of New York.

a LOUIS MARX.

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